Shadow & Storms by Helen Scheurer – A Thrilling Finale

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“Don’t let the world – don’t let anyone convince you that you’re not enough. Only you define your story. You and you alone. When they tell you what you’re not, when they tell you what you can’t do, remember: you are the storm, Elwren.”

Goodreads / Storygraph

Summary from Goodreads

“She was ready to shed blood, ready to take back what was hers.”

The time has come to make one last stand against the forces of cursed men and monsters. But Thea’s enemies are only getting stronger. With allies divided and an outnumbered army, she must race against her own fate to secure the future of the midrealms – or die trying.

A prophecy is looming, and Thea’s life is in the balance. Does she have the power to cheat death itself?

Love and loyalty will be tested. Bonds will fracture forever. But all must fight for a better world.

In the final war for survival, will Thea and Wilder emerge victorious? Or will the shadows consume them at last?

Fans of Fourth Wing, The Witcher and The Bridge Kingdom, brace yourselves for sizzling romance, found family and heart-pounding battles in Shadow & Storms, the epic finale to The Legends of Thezmarr.

Thoughts on the Plot

Remember how I mentioned struggling with the pacing of these books? Well, this book is probably by far the worst in terms of pacing. 

It also felt like the author threw in little chapters full of suspense for…what?

There were a lot of times while reading this book where I thought, “Can we just get to the point?”

The ending of this book, while everything is resolved, felt a bit flat. 

The big reveal didn’t truly feel like a revelation. Or well, both big reveals just felt like conveniences. 

The main plot of this book is the war, and I didn’t even really like that. Four books might have been too much for this series, I definitely think we could have skipped over some of the angst and spice and condensed the series down to three books. 

There were also a lot of little hints towards the next book. Though not the next book in this series, but another series still set in Thezmarr world. 

*cough*Wren and Torj*cough*

Thoughts on the Characters

I genuinely love how much stronger Thea is in this book. She has come out of the Great Rite and is claiming everything that is her and I LOVE THAT FOR HER. 

Wilder, on the other hand, is very traumatized from the prison and is trying to come to terms with kinda everything going on. 

But by 25% in the book Wilder is just…fine? It’s giving big boys don’t cry, and I hate that for Wilder. 

Wren and Torj begin some sort of weird “will they, won’t they?” Kind of relationship, though (surprisingly) Torj is the only one willing to at least acknowledge it to Wilder. 

Wren felt a little weird in this book, too. She felt a lot darker and her character was clearly going through it but I found myself mourning for the Wren we knew in the past 3 books. 

Our side characters are still as amazing as ever and no Helen Scheurer. I do not forgive you for almost taking one of them away from us. 

I will say, I really like reading Wilder in love. The spice between Wilder and Thea is more often than not a bit on the rougher side, and with everything feeling like it is closing in on them, they finally slow down. 

They finally are a couple not just in love, but they have settled. They chose each other, and that is that. There are no if, ands, or buts. I very much like the more tender moments between Wilder and Thea in this book. 

Overall Thoughts

Overall, this was not the worst ending to a series. And trust me, it could have been a lot worse. 

The ending, in my opinion, fell super flat. The reveals did not feel grand, nor did the resolutions truly feel all that satisfying. 

I think my biggest let down was that damn fate stone. 

Even Audra’s return was like yeah, we all saw that coming too. 

I am also quite excited for Wren and Tori’s story. Wren’s character has changed a lot and I am eager to see what happens. 

I also really want to learn more about Torj. 

Also, how old are Torj, Wilder, Talemir, and Malik???????

All in all, a solid ending to a very interesting series. Books 1 & 3 were my absolute favorites and if you haven’t read this series yet, I absolutely recommend it. 

And like I said in my Fate & Furies review, I 100% recommend reading the series in this order:

1. Blood & Steel
2. Vows & Ruins
3. Slaying The Shadow Prince
4. Fate & Furies
5. Shadow & Storms

This is primarily because I now pretty much can read Slaying The Shadow Prince and feel none of the tension or worry because I know how all the characters end up and pretty much what happens. 

A solid 4 stars out of 5 stars. 

Series Reviews: Blood & Steel, Vows & Ruins, Fate & Furies, Overall Series Review